The first youth meeting of the Retina Suisse took place in the fall of 2001. I waited expectantly at the Zurich train station, looking forward to greeting the young RP members (or retinos as we call ourselves within the Retina Europe Youth). On first impression, they appeared to show signs of reservation.
In the office of Retina Suisse our president, Mrs. Christina Fasser, welcomed the participating members. I subsequently distributed chocolate with different wrapping amongst the group in order to split randomly the group into four groups of two. We each interviewed our partners so that we could introduce them to the group afterwards. It was exciting to exchange information on our different ways of life. Then, information about Retina Suisse and Retina Europe Youth was presented.
Before noon Mr. Dr. Guenter Niemeyer joined us and accompanied us to lunch to a nearby restaurant. Interesting discussions resulted during the break. During the second part of the meeting Mr. Dr. Niemeyer showed us slides and explained Retinitis Pigmentosa in detail. The presentation addressed all our questions and was very descriptive and informative. Afterwards, we spoke about our own experiences with night blindness and shared tips and tricks, e.g. familiarising oneself with a route during daylight in order to be able to know it by heart to ease night-time journeys.
We ended our youth meeting with a feedback round in which the sentiment was mainly positive. The main criticism was that so few members participated. I assumed plausible explanations for this is fear of confrontation with the eye disease, absence due to vacation or other activities.
During our last board meeting we decided that we shall plan a second youth meeting in the fall of 2002. I look forward to the continuation of our discussions and many new faces.
Brigitte Hübschi, member of the board of Retina Suisse, Bellevuestrasse 40, CH-3095 Spiegel b. Bern, Switzerland
Home Page